Hi Deetoiders

Hey everyone,

Iíve been playing video games for more than 25 years. I grew up with an Atari ST and lots of point-and-click adventures from Sierra and Lucasfilm Games. Later I got a Game Boy (the first one, clunky and grey) and played a lot of jumpínírun stuff too. Although I was exposed to some of the first fps games, like Doom and Castle Wolfenstein, I never really got into that genre.

Today I still like to play point-and-click adventures most, which is also the reason I joined a small games company and am now developing adventure games myself. I also like indie games like Trine, Eufloria, Dear Esther, and many more. Iíve bought almost every indie bundle there was from sites like Humble Bundle or Indie Royale, so my backlog on Steam is pretty big.

While I played a lot of JRPGs and RPGs in the past, my attention span kinda shrunk over the years (and also the time I am able and willing to put into playing games), so today I prefer games that donít take too long to finish. Iíd rather play ten indie games of 5 hours each than an epic RPG that keeps me going for weeks or even months.

Apart from games I spent a lot of my time dabbling in stop motion animation and sculpting. I also work as a voice actor for games, animation and other stuff.

@Panzadolphin56: I work at KING Art Games, who made "The Book of Unwritten Tales". I also worked on the add-on prequel "The Critter Chronicles" and right now where making an adventure game called "The Raven".

My favorite LucasArts game? Tough question... my first one was Zak McKracken, so that has a special place in my heart. Shortly after that I played The Secret of Monkey Island, which was the first game that really felt like I was playing a funny hollywood movie. The one that really hyped me though was Day of the Tentacle.

@Panzadolphin56: I work at KING Art Games, who made "The Book of Unwritten Tales". I also worked on the add-on prequel "The Critter Chronicles" and right now where making an adventure game called "The Raven".

My favorite LucasArts game? Tough question... my first one was Zak McKracken, so that has a special place in my heart. Shortly after that I played The Secret of Monkey Island, which was the first game that really felt like I was playing a funny hollywood movie. The one that really hyped me though was Day of the Tentacle.

Good stuff!

I like a lot of their old point and click games, but they did some decent Star Wars titles back in the day aswell. Dark Forces was awesome, and being able to throw people around in Jedi Knight was pretty cool too!

@Tarvu: Bremen is a nice little city. Big enough to have big electronics stores with a good selection of games, but small enough to walk around without dying from smog.
I've been to GamesCom almost every year, even before it moved from Leipzig to Cologne. It's always a highlight for me.

@zerostasis: What kind of tips would you like? How to break into the games industry?

First of all you need to figure out what you like to do most. What is the kind of thing you would have fun doing day after day. Then you should do projects in this area, starting from small and getting bigger. Find other people to collaborate on small projects, like game apps. It doesn't matter whether those are tiny projects or bigger ones, free stuff or commercial work. Always do your best. Those finished projects are a major part of your portfolio, because they show potential employers that you are able to finish a project and work in a team.

@zerostasis: What kind of tips would you like? How to break into the games industry?

First of all you need to figure out what you like to do most. What is the kind of thing you would have fun doing day after day. Then you should do projects in this area, starting from small and getting bigger. Find other people to collaborate on small projects, like game apps. It doesn't matter whether those are tiny projects or bigger ones, free stuff or commercial work. Always do your best. Those finished projects are a major part of your portfolio, because they show potential employers that you are able to finish a project and work in a team.

Exactly what I needed, though there were already advises that are similar to this. But this is a first time I've seen an advise about team-oriented. Well there were but not as straight cut and forward as this. Thanks. In your experience in the industry what were the highlights and lowlights of being a game developer? Not that I'm 2nd thinking my prospected career, just want to have a heads up of what I could expect once I'm in.

Exactly what I needed, though there were already advises that are similar to this. But this is a first time I've seen an advise about team-oriented. Well there were but not as straight cut and forward as this. Thanks. In your experience in the industry what were the highlights and lowlights of being a game developer? Not that I'm 2nd thinking my prospected career, just want to have a heads up of what I could expect once I'm in.

The teamwork and feeling of being a "family" is (in my opinion) important for any creative job, at least in small companies. The social interaction with your colleagues and shared interests (like taste in movies, games and books) can really help the work atmosphere and lead to more creativity and productivity.

As for the ups and downs...
It is always a great feeling if one of your ideas or other contributions make it into the finished game or if you successfully did something innovative. Sometimes the budget can be a big downer, because you have to compress or cut a lot of ideas to fit the limitations (e.g. max. number of characters, items, levels, etc.). On the other hand these limitations can also lead to a lot of creative and innovative work-arounds.

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